North Americans buy 600,000 Wiis in first week

Nintendo sold more than 600,000 Wii consoles to North Americas during the first eight days the next-generation games machine was available to buy, the company said last night. It still managed to sell out, the company's US chief claimed.

Wii went on sale in the US and Canada on 19 November. Since then, sales of the console, and Nintendo's own accessories and software offerings, have exceeded $190m (£98.2/€144.8m), the videogames pioneer claimed.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess appears to be the most popular Wii title, with sales of 454,000 in that eight-day period - sufficient for three-quarters of all Wii buyers to have acquired a copy.

Wii goes on sale in Japan on 2 December, this coming Saturday, with its European debut following on 8 December. ®